Wednesday, October 10, 2007

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (October 10,2007) - The International community's High Representative and EU Special Representative in Bosnia Miroslav Lajcak again urged Bosnia's political leaders to overcome all vanities and mistrust and to reach an agreement on police reform by the end of the week.

Lajcak expressed hope that the political leaders in Bosnia will be able to reach an agreement on this issue, which has the full support of the Bosnian citizens,he said,and to by doing so ensure that Bosnia joins the European Union together with its neighbours.

“If vanities and mistrust prevail again then your politicians will have decided that you do not deserve to be on the same platform as your neighbours”, the International community's High Representative and EU Special Representative in Bosnia said after meeting with representatives of the NGO sector.

He announced that the EU Foreign Affairs Ministers would meet in Brussels on October 15 when conclusions concerning the political situation in Bosnia are expected to be adopted.

Lajcak received support for his Protocol on Police Reform from the three largest non-governmental organisations in Bosnia. They expressed their support for his proposal in conclusions adopted at a recently held roundtable on European integration.

President of the Croat National Council (HNV) Luka Markesic, President of the Council of the Bosniak Intellectuals Congress (VKBI) Sabira Hadzovic and President of the Serb Citizen’ Council (SGV) Mirko Pejanovic presented these conclusions to Lajcak.

They think that Lajcak’s document on police reform is a good basis for resolving the issue of police reform, which will allow Bosnia to sign the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the European union.

SGV President Mirko Pejanovic said that police reform is a strategic issue, both for the Bosnian citizens and the Bosnian state, because the resolution of this issue will determine whether Bosnia continues the process of EU integration or not.

These three non-governmental organisations described the current political situation in Bosnia as the worst since Dayton and urged politicians to accept the Protocol on Police Reform.

SGV, VKBI and HNV have urged the International community's High Representative and EU Special Representative in Bosnia to take measures to ensure the success of the police reform process and stressed that not the citizens of Bosnia, but its politicians, should pay the price of failure.

Lajcak thanked for their support and described as extremely important the role of the civil sector in every society.

He also described as important the fact that these non-governmental organisations have chosen integration over isolation and expressed confidence that Bosnia's politicians will do the same.